Customer Reviews

English Through the Ages

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A fine, if special purpose, reference. The first half of the book contains a cronological listing of words broken down by category (War, Interjections, Emotions, Colors). This is interesting for questions like: "What words would a modern man of the 1590's use?" The latter (and more specifically useful) half contains an alphabetic index of all words (but sadly indexed without date -- requiring some paging back and forth): "Is this word appropriate for a Lady of the 1880's?" This is the sort of reference that cries out for CD-Rom, but the flexibility of paper far outweighs the limited possibilities of some cd ui. "Brief Musings" about English evolution break up the index monotony and add some "why" rather than just what.

This book belongs in your collection if you are interested in word useage through time. This book is particularly useful when you want to give your historical writing that extra oomph, and you want to use the right word for the right time.

How about a quick insult? Flip to the proper time frame, say 1350, and Lo! Words like "Lurdane" (dull, heavy, stupid, sluggish) and "Gig" (Sorry, this is a family website, you'll have to read the book)abound anon.

You can also use the index to locate a particular word. The page numbers will tip you off as to where the word falls in the timeline.

A very helpful, but not always employed, feature is the notation "u", meaning the word was in use until a particular time. This way, you can be confident that "gig" was a good insult "u1700".

We are bounden to William Brohaugh.

As an author, it's important to know when certain slang words/phrases came into use. Since I'm writing a historical, I need to know if "biological clock" was being used back in the thirties. It wasn't, (actually around 1955) so I'd need to use different terminology.

For a non-writer, it's just fun to see when different phrases came into use. (For instance, back around 1915 the word "lounge lizard" started being used.)

This is a great book in dictionary-type format for those who need to know exactly when words came into effect - which, as a professional writer, I do. So this is a guide I keep by my desk to reference as needed. Very useful~!

The book is a reference needed for any historical library. It gives information on word usage and slang. Interesting facts about new meanings of for old words can be found throughout the book.

If you write historical fiction (or high fantasy), this book is a marvelous match to help create verisimilitude. It charts the usage of English words in a user friendly format. For example, if you're writing a story that takes place in the late 19th century, you can turn to the sections "In Use by 1875" and "In Use by 1900." There you will find words that came into use during those decades, grouped according to categories such as geography, plants, weather, science, religion, technology, everyday life, agriculture, professions, family, etc.

In the back of the book is an alphabetical list of individual words, a list that references the page where each word appears in the sections sorted by date. For instance, if you have used the word "sure-handed" in your narrative that takes place in 1875, you can look up "sure-handed" and find that it did not appear in English usage until around 1930. Thus, as an accurate historian, you would search your brain for a different word that actually fits the era.

I recommend this handy desk reference to any writer for whom accurate depiction of era is important.

What a great book! Extremely useful to any writer of historicals or just great fun for anyone with an interest in history to browse in. I would recommend this highly.

I have used this book over and over again to find when words were in use. If you need that then this is your book, a MUST HAVE. Use the Amazon "Look Inside" and go to Excerpt and you will see. There are several ways to use this book, you can go to the Index and find a word with a page number. You can go to the time period you need say "In use by 1500" and find the type of word you need e.g., "Slang" in use by 1550,(Some are funny, check out -fumble). Easy to use and it's almost 600 pages long, quite a reference book like no other. I only wish there was an updated version, I would buy it sight unseen. I would say this is an incredible tool for writers, history & word geeks.

For writers of historical fiction, plays, or screenplays, this is an indispensable tool, as important as a dictionary. It not only helps you avoid anachronisms, it introduces you to words you never would have found by any other means. Other reviewers have described the format, so I won't go over that, but I want people to know that this book deserves 1,000 stars!

So many times I see historical writers using words I know does not go back to that era. Etymology is often left off from even good dictionaries these days in effort to cut costs and online website dictionary totally ignore this part, so there is often no quick reference to check when words came into use. This book fills that gap.

I am not sure the set up is perfect, but then unsure if any form would be. This one starts with 1150, listing words that came from that period, then jumps to 1350 to 1470, then 1500, 1550, 1600, 1650,1700, 1750, 1825, 1875, 1900 and 1920. 1950-1990 are done by decade. It has an index at the end so you are able to look up a word if you are unaware of the time period and back track.

This is a very useful resource for writers looking to rid their words of those pesky anachronisms.